Hood

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Isolation hood from Top To Bottom Leathers
Latex hood from Demask
Rubber hood with blindfold and gag
Rear-laced leather hood from Westward Bound

Hoods play a major part in BDSM imagery and practice. They can be worn by both submissives and dominants for a number of reasons.

  • To objectify the wearer: Beacuse they obscure the face, hoods can play a major role in objectification fantasies. For a submissive, they will reduce them to the status of a sexual toy, rather than a sexual partner. For the dominant, the hood will help make them appear more distant and impersonal, projecting an image of sexual power and superiority.
  • Sensory deprivation: Heavy latex or leather hoods can be used by the dominant partner to control the sub's ability to see and hear. This will enhance the sub's feelings of helplessness and loss of control in a scene. Inbuilt gags are often used to increase still further the sense of helplessness by limiting the ability of the sub to communicate. Heavy hoods can greatly increase the efficacy of a gag, reducing the ability of the gagged person to make any sound.
  • Transformation: Animal hoods can be used as part of an animal transformation fantasy, giving the wearer the features of, say, a dog. The transformation can be more abstract; hoods used in pony play often have holes at the top of the hood to allow long hair to be pulled through or have false hair attached to the top of the hood, forming a cascade not unlike a horse's tail.
  • Visual impact: Hoods have a strong visual appeal, especially highly coloured latex designs, and are very popular as club wear.
  • Total enclosure: Many fetishists are turned on by the second skin elements of fetishism; hoods form an integral part of this.
  • As a bondage device: Hoods can incorporate attachment points for ropes and chains to secure the head as part of a bondage scene.
  • To disguise the wearer: Hoods can also serve the function of disguising identity when desired, for example at play parties.

Contents

Types of hood

Because of their popularity and the multitude of reasons for wanting to wear a hood, there is a massive range of different designs available from a wide range of suppliers. This article attempts to classify hoods into a number of basic types. However, many hoods will combine elements of more than one type in their design.

Lacing

Many hoods, especially leather ones, have laces down the back. This allows the hood to be made very tight. Often, the laces can be covered with a flap that can be locked down for added security.

Buying a hood

A trawl through the web will quickly bring up a bewildering array of suppliers selling every type of hood imaginable with prices from £30 to £300. Generally you will get what you pay for, the more expensive hoods being better quality and more sophisticated in their design. Manufacturers will differ in how they go about constructing the hood, some concentrating on the quality of the stitching whilst others focus on the strength of construction. The most important thing though is the fit and this is best done by trying the hood on before buing it. If a hood is too tight it will quickly become uncomfortable and will end up not being used. If it is too loose much of the sensory delight in wearing a hood will be lost.

The most popular materials for hoods are leather and latex. Leather due to its strength tends to be more popular for BDSM and bondage use; latex due to it smoothness and range of colours is ever popular at fetish clubs.

Making latex hoods

Latex hoods may be made from glued latex or moulded latex.

Glued latex hoods, also called tailored, are made from two or more pieces of latex sheeting joined along their edges. The more pieces in the pattern, the closer the fit, as the pieces are better able to follow the contours of the wearer's head. Skilled pattern drafters are able to make adjustments to patterns to fit a wide range of sizes. Because of the labour involved, tailored latex hoods tend to be more expensive than equivalent moulded hoods.

Moulded latex hoods are made by dipping casts into liquid latex. Reinforcing fabric tape may be attached to the cast before dipping so that the latex can bind properly to the tape. Once the latex has dried, zippers and other attachments can be sewn to the tape without fear of tearing the latex. Openings for eyes, nostrils, and mouth can be cut into the hood after it is dried. Because of the work involved in making a cast, manufacturers will typically make a limited number of sizes available and customisation of sizes is not usually an option. Moulding has the advantages of producing a seamless final product, as well as being able to make thicker products through multiple dippings.

This page uses content from LatexWiki (see here); the original article may be viewed here.

See Also


Clothing links
Body region Fetish wear Bondage wear Vanilla
Headwear Hood
Collar
Bondage hood
Posture collar
Neck corset
Mouth corset
Veil
Torso Corset
Leotard
Bondage corset
Straitjacket
Lower body Suspender belt Hobble skirt
Inflatable leggings
Hosiery
Hands Armbinder/Monoglove
Bondage mittens
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Footwear Latex boots Ballet boots Boots
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Full body Catsuit/Zentai Body bag
Inflatable catsuit
Punishment suit
Unitard
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